I liked her sassiness in her first appearance in the movie when she put Daggett on his place. And yeah I liked the intimate scene too if we're just talking about that scene alone and not the context of it in the story. I mean, how can I really complain with wet Bale and Marion making out?

Some quotes! Probably not 100% perfect, but it's what I've gathered from various parts of the web... I wanted to buy the novelization but the two Walmarts I checked on different days were either out of them or never had them. I should just order it.

Spoiler!!! Click to Read!:

Miranda Tate/Talia

“You have to invest if you want to restore balance to the world.”

“Suffering builds character.”

“Do what is necessary.”

“[Bane] is not the child of Ra's al Ghul. I am.”

“[Bane is] my friend, my protector.”

“[My father] excommunicated Bane from the League of Shadows. His only crime was that he loved me.”

Ra's al Ghul

“Every time a civilization reaches the pinnacle of its decadence, we return to restore
the balance.” (Batman Begins)

“There are many forms of immortality.” (The Dark Knight Rises - Vision)

“An heir to ensure that the League of Shadows fulfills its duty to restore balance to civilization.” (The Dark Knight Rises – Vision)

I loved Ra's cameo in TDKR. It was not just a nice touch to his immortality in comics but he still lives in Bruce's mind after all those years and Taila is his successor. He was a legend, an idea. Just like Batman become a legend and idea for Blake. In a way Batman became immortal as well.

But the main problem was that she felt so bland. There just wasn't really anything interesting about her personality until the last five minutes where she shows her true colors, and at least seems "energetic".

__________________
Writer and Lyricist of GOTHAM'S KNIGHT: THE BATMAN MUSICAL

And if I'm right
The future's looking bright
A symbol in the skies at night

But the main problem was that she felt so bland. There just wasn't really anything interesting about her personality until the last five minutes where she shows her true colors, and at least seems "energetic".

Indeed; and it didn't help that they had to rush Batman defeating her and stopping the bomb not long after her big reveal.

I see a lot of people complaining about Talia’s death — specifically, the way Marion delivers her last line, her eyes flutter, and then she just abruptly dies. I will admit that, while I loved every part of the death scene, that part was pretty weak. But to everyone complaining — you guys know that was Nolan’s choice, right? He picked that take to go in the final version; he may have even been the one to tell her to die like that to begin with.

Directors pick the weirdest takes sometimes (I’m looking at you, Peter Jackson). Leaked set footage shows that there were plenty of different takes in various scenes that, ultimately, weren’t the takes chosen for the final film. You can’t really blame the actors for that, as they have no say in that matter.

I think the actual moment of Talia’s death could have been much stronger, but I place the blame for it on Nolan, not Marion. Whitewashing aside, I thought she was a brilliant Talia, and any perceived weaknesses in her acting seem (obviously, in my opinion) due to the way Nolan downplayed her character so much to keep her off the audience’s radar so no one would figure out that Miranda was Talia.

All that being said, while I strongly disagree with people blaming Marion for that part of her performance, this is hilarious: peopledyinglikemarioncotillard (though it should really be called “People Dying Like Nolan Told Marion Cotillard to Die”).

I can't blame Marion for that. It's Nolan's fault for allowing that take to make the movie IMO. Marion will undeservingly get most of the ridicule though (like how Bale gets all the flak for the Batvoice).

One of the things that bothers me most about her role in the movie is that for non fanboys, the movies ARE canon for certain characters. Its why the general audience still thinks Batman is mainly just a regular dude with some fighting skills and gadgets, despite the fact that he is a genius in the comics.

This movie was Talia's introduction for many viewers and they got it wrong in so many ways, IMO.

__________________"There is a difference between you and me. We both looked into the abyss, but when it looked back at us... you blinked."

The more I think about it, the more I realize that she's easily Nolan's worst written villain. She had zero redeeming qualities.

We don't know if Ra's was genuine in his fondness for Bruce or if that was all a form of manipulation on his part but we definitely felt something when he and Bruce were at odds in the end. Bane might've blown people to pieces but his past with Talia humanize him. Two-Face was obviously sympathetic. The Joker and Scarecrow were just fun in general. Talia was none of that. She wasn't even remotely interesting when she was Tate.

Marion is my favorite actress (along with Cate Blanchett) but that doesn't mean I would automatically like her character. The character was just simply badly written and underdeveloped. Like what I said, I can't find a single redeeming quality to it. I probably would hate it even further if it wasn't Marion playing it although honestly I don't think any actress can save it.